The field of sports apparel has demonstrated little innovation. Consumers' lone purchase decision is whether they want the home design or away design of a particular player's jersey. In some cases, fans can purchase jerseys customized with their name on them. In rare cases, teams have offered split jerseys, tailored with the left side featuring home design and right side featuring away design or vice versa. In all situations, the point of purchase where the customer orders their jersey is a take-it-or-leave-it scenario with next to no options. This is further complicated by complex licensing issues resulting from agreements between teams, leagues, and manufacturers. Today there is not an option for a consumer to purchase a jersey that supports a player throughout his or her career.
No matter the configuration and situation, today's jerseys only illustrate the current contracted team of the player in question. The moment that player signs a contract or is traded to a different team, a replica of the player's earlier jersey passes into “retro” status.